Sing Me No Requiem
by THE-MORNINGSTAR-DEVIL
Summary: When there is no one grieving, who will sing the songs of the dead? Who will mourn the one in the background when they finally fade, only to have them replaced with little more than a dark shadow.
1. Void

**Now, I know that I should probably finish Shattered before I start another story, but I have a lot of stories in progress and I wanted to get at least this one out even if I don't post the rest.**

 **All props to my lovely beta for reading my awkward writing, so shout out to Cracked Silver.**

 **She's a great writer so go and check her out :)**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoy this one.**

 **I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender**

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There was complete and utter panic as the Lions spun away from the ship, desperately trying to gain some semblance of control, but the forces outside were pulling them too strongly to try.

"Hunk! Guys! Help!" Lance called out, but all he got was screams for help in return. "Guys!" he screamed again, trying in vain to regain control of his Lion, but Blue was not responding. His Lion shuddered violently before the coms suddenly went out and he was thrown into a world of black.

 _'Help…'_ was his last thought before passing out into blissful unconsciousness.

((( )))

Lance awoke in the cockpit of his Lion and he blinked open his eyes slowly. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but immediately lay back down again, hissing in pain. Everything hurt, and there was an odd warmth over his chest that didn't feel very good. Where was the warmth coming from? Wincing, he looked around as best he could. The interior walls of the Blue Lion's cockpit had definitely seen better days. They were torn badly with wires hanging out everywhere and metal scraps were scattered everywhere, covering the floor and control board. Light flickered weakly as he felt a presence in the back of his mind.

"Blue?" He called weakly, and he got a weak growl in response. He felt her concern for him and she was trying to provide comfort for something, but he couldn't understand what she was trying to say. Lance groaned and once again tried to sit up, but that only brought more pain. He was now feeling lightheaded and was having trouble breathing. That, and the warmth in his chest had grown now and was still unpleasant. Wincing, he steeled himself for the pain and looked down to examine himself. Gasping, his eyes found that there was a long shard of metal sticking out of him.

 _'That…that certainly explains some things…'_ He thought to himself before he suddenly felt a wave of pain wash over him at the realization that yes, there was something sticking out of him and it should probably hurt. Blue whined in distress at her paladin's pain and at the fact that there was nothing that she could do to help him. Her systems were slowly repairing themselves, but even if she wasn't in a bad condition, there was nothing that she could do to help. She had no idea where they were or where their team was. She felt so useless. Why hadn't she tried harder? Why was she so weak? Now, because of her weakness, her paladin was dying inside of her.

"Don't think that, Blue… it wasn't your fault." Lance said comfortingly to her. "There was nothing you could do to help, so don't blame yourself." He murmured softly, trying his best to stay calm, but inside he was panicking. This was bad. This was really, really bad. The wound was pretty much fatal, and he had already lost a lot of blood. The only reason that he hadn't bled out completely by now was the fact that the shrapnel was sealing the wound enough for him to bleed out more slowly. So this was it, wasn't it? He was going to die…

"B-Blue… Blue, let me out…" he called out softly and he felt a wave of concern from her followed quickly by her refusal. No. She would not let her paladin leave the safety of her cockpit. Here, she could at least try her best and keep her hurt paladin safe and comfortable. Lance coughed painfully, feeling his chest burn, and looks out the front, wheezing softly.

"Please, Blue. You know…as well as I do…that I'm not gonna make it." Blue protested as he said that, but Lance cut her off.

"Please. Please don't deny it… I…I just don't want…this to be…where I die… I can't die inside you… so please… please let me out…" he pled with her. For a minute, there was only silence, but then the faint telltale hissing of the doors slowly opening was heard right before the rush of a slight breeze came through the opening. Smiling slightly, Lance whispered his thanks to the Lion. Bracing himself, Lance slowly raised himself up from his chair, gritting his teeth to try and keep himself from screaming in agony. Finally upright, he braced his not bloody hand on the wall while the other held his stomach, trying to keep the shrapnel from jostling inside him too much as he walked toward the entrance. Stopping just before the incline down, Lance stopped and looked down at himself. His armor was scraped and blood covered but was otherwise fine. He could probably take off most of the white pieces. And his helmet and bayard would have to stay too.

 _'Can't be rude to the next Blue Paladin, after all.'_ Lance thought to himself, chuckling internally before wincing. 'Yeah. Shock is definitely settling in. Gotta do this fast…' And again, he grit his teeth to bear through all the pain of movement. It only got worse as his movement became sluggish and the black spots danced at the edges of his vision. It was a miracle that he had held out this long due to the blood that was seeping out more steadily due to the movement. With the last of the armor tossed inside, Lance pulled off his helmet last, looking at it sadly before throwing it inside of Blue along with his bayard. Taking a shaky breath, Lance walked out unsteadily, the black spots now threatening to take over his vision. He didn't make it that far from his lion before collapsing, falling sideways to the ground. Breathing weakly, he rolled onto his back, warm blood pooling around him as he looked up at the sky. It was a deep blue and it reminded him of home. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he felt a wave of sadness at the realization that he would never see home again. That he would die under a foreign sky.

"Blue…just promise me something…" his energy was fading from him fast, but so was the pain…

"Promise me…."

((( )))

It had been a few weeks, but there had been no sign of the Blue Lion or Lance. The other paladins and the Alteans were gathered on the bridge, searching for any signal that may indicate Lance's location, but there had been absolutely no sign of him in that time. Pidge had even tapped into messages sent from the Galra for any possible news of the Blue Paladin's capture, but there had been nothing. The castle had been eerily quiet without the loudest of the Paladins around to add a sense of life to the large castle. It brought all residents of the castleship unease to hear such silence after so long with the Cuban boy and his bright energy. Everyone, of course, took the loss harshly, but none as much as Hunk and Coran. Hunk because Lance was his best friend and the one who understood him the best. Coran thought of all the boys as family, but there was something special to him about the Cuban boy. He reminded Coran of his own family that was long gone along with the rest of his planet and his people. He understood the boy and his homesickness better than he may have wanted to, and for that, he felt like he shared a sort of kinship with the boy. And now, he was gone.

"Any sign of him?" Hunk asked worriedly and turned to Pidge. Said girl was hunched over her controls and staring at her screen, occasionally tapping at it and muttering softly to herself. With a sigh, she looked up, the dark circles and bags under her eyes becoming more apparent to the older teen. Growling, she shook her head and turned back to the screen.

"This is the fifth time you've asked in the last hour, Hunk…" she said warningly, but didn't say anything more. She knew that the older teen was taking it harder than the rest of them and as much as it annoyed her, yelling at him now would be like kicking a sad puppy.

"I know, I know. It's just…we're gonna find him, aren't we?" Hunk asked, his voice getting smaller as he ended his sentence. At the question, the air seemed to become stifling, choking at the sudden heaviness surrounding them.

"We'll find him." Shiro assured the teen, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Hunk nodded slowly, but didn't look very convinced. They all knew that this might happen one day. They had all had it the back of their minds every time they went into battle, but the reality is often far from the truth. After those past few days when they were separated and slowly reassembled at the castle, they had all expected that they had all made it and were intact, that it was just a matter of finding them all again. But after the first week passed, they felt fear grip their hearts. The castle had slowly grown quiet in Lance's absence, but the others had tried to keep it lively, their hopes still high that they would be able to find Lance and bring him back, but as their search grew longer, the hope they had dwindled into a small candle of flame. Now here they were, holding on for any sign of him at all. Hoping, praying, that they would find him.

"I'm getting a faint reading of a signal! Something's headed for us!" Allura suddenly shouted from her spot at the controls. There was a flurry of movement at her words as they sat in their chairs and prepared for the worst while Coran rushed back to the helm, scanning further out to see if they could get a look at what was heading towards them. They had gotten their hopes up too many times in the past few weeks every time they had an alert. They couldn't afford to have their hope broken due to another false alarm.

"It's the Blue Lion!" Pidge shouted, bolting up in her seat and gawking at the sight before her. And there it was. As they moved closer, the bright blue of the Lion's coat was shining brightly in contrast with the black of space. They all felt a weight in their hearts lift slightly at the sight. It _was_ the Blue Lion! Lance must have found his way back to them!

"Lance? Come in! Lance, is that you? Do you read me?" Coran activated the comms, calling out to the Blue Lion, but there was no response. Worried, they glanced nervously at the Lion who was getting steadily closer to them.

"Why isn't he responding?" Keith asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared out. The rest were just as confused as him, but there was a steady feeling of dread slowly creeping into their guts.

"Maybe the comms in his Lion are damaged?" Pidge added nervously. The rest nodded but didn't look too convinced.

"We should get to the hangar as that seems to be where the Blue Lion is heading." Coran added and Shiro nodded.

"Get the med bay prepped too. He could be hurt." He said and Coran hurried off to do just that. It had crossed his mind as well, but he was trying to hold on to a relatively positive attitude. But there was no way that it wasn't a possibility. The teen had been thrown through a wormhole to who knows where and had been stranded for weeks. Along with a damaged ship, there was no way that the boy had gotten away without a few injuries. With that thought, Coran quickly gathered items from the med bay and joined the others who were headed to the Blue Lion's hangar. They arrived just as the Lion touched down and waited eagerly for some sort of movement from inside the cabin. When there was nothing for a few minutes, they went up to the Lion and knocked. Maybe he really _was_ injured and couldn't get out. The thought almost sent them into a panic.

"Coran, is everything ready?" Shiro asked and the elder Altean nodded. Nodding, Shiro went up to the door and looked up at Blue

"OK, girl, you need to let us in so we can help him." He spoke softly to the Lion, hoping for some sort of response. When they didn't get anything, Shiro turned to Black to get some help but was startled when the door to Blue swung open. Immediately, they all rushed inside to help their possibly injured teammate. Stopping just short of the pilot's chair, they all got a good look at the interior and hissed at all the damage. It was amazing that the Blue Lion even made it out into space, much less managed to keep flying until she reached the Castle of Lions again.

"Wait, guys, where's Lance?" Hunk asked, looking around but not seeing the Cuban boy anywhere. The dread that was building up in their bodies was now heavy and the fear gripped their hearts tightly. Lance wasn't here. Lance was gone.

 **7 MONTHS LATER**

"I'm picking up a reading from ahead of us." Pidge said, scanning the monitors for any sort of information about the incoming vessel. Everyone was already in their respective chairs, prepared for an attack if it should happen.

"It's a small one-man vessel, cruiser class." Pidge said, looking over the ship for any discrepancies. She couldn't have been the only one in the galaxy that had managed to camouflage their ship, so she wasn't taking any chances.

"It looks like the ship is trying to contact us." Coran informed them, staring down at the controls and a flashing button.

"Put them through." Allura nodded, and Coran complied, letting the transmission go through.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" A voice rang out. It was a male voice, and a young one by the sound of it.

"Yes. We can hear you." Allura affirmed. Huffing softly, the voice sounded again.

"Ok, and who would I be talking to?" The voice asked again. At this, the team raised their eyebrow. At this point, most people knew of the Castle of Lions, considering that it housed the Lions of Voltron. Although wary of a trap, Allura answered.

"I am Princess Allura of Altea and this is the Castle of Lions." She said clearly and with authority. There was a moment of silence from the other end before it was finally broken by a small murmur.

"So, he wasn't lying… Guess I owe him 100 GAC, after all…" He muttered, which just added to Team Voltron's confusion. He? He who?

"Once again, we must ask you who you are." Allura said, feeling an uneasiness in her heart at the mention of a third party.

"Ok, I know this is going to be weird and I know that you don't trust me, but I formally request permission to dock. I-I…I need to…confirm something. When I do, I'll tell you everything I know. Take me prisoner as soon as I land, but please let me on that ship." The voice requested, a slight hint of desperation entering his tone. Team Voltron shared a look before nodding. It was a single fighter, so there wasn't much that could happen in the way of damage and if it was a trap, they were more than prepared to handle it.

"Permission granted. We will open the doors for you to land and prepare for us to meet you there." Allura replied after a minute of deliberation.

"Affirmative." The voice responded before the transmission was cut off and the ship flew off to the side in order to dock. Immediately, they all got up and rushed to the main hangar, feeling tense at the thought of a stranger in the Castle of Lions.

"Who do you think it is?" Keith asked, his bayard already drawn and forming his sword. The rest did the same as they ran forwards.

"The Blade?" Pidge asked, but Shiro shook his head.

"No. They would have communicated with us and told us they were sending someone over to us." He said. They had met the Blade of Marmora months ago and they had had a rocky relationship with each other at first, especially with the subsequent knowledge that Keith himself was half Galra, but that had been sorted out enough to where they had a decent communication system between them.

"One of Lotor's?" Hunk asked nervously. Allura also looked slightly unnerved at the mention of the Galran Prince but shook her head.

"No, I do not think so. They would have had a more convincing story if that were so." Reluctantly, they all agreed. The guy had been suspicious right off the bat, so there was no way that someone like that was sent by Lotor.

"So, who could it be?" Pidge asked, more to herself than the rest of her teammates, but the rest also had no idea at what to expect. They reached the hangar just as the ship landed, where they finally saw exactly how small the ship was. It was by no means ready for a battle, but it did have a few things. They gathered around the ship, their weapons drawn and at their sides, ready for anything. Form inside, the same voice that they heard on the bridge ran out.

"Ok, I know you guys are out there, and I'm coming out now, so don't shoot!" Pidge readied her bayard just in case, but there was something niggling at the back of her mind. That voice. That voice was so familiar for some reason… she snapped back to attention as the door to the ship opened and a cloaked figure stepped out, hands raised in the classic "don't shoot" pose. None the less, they all had their weapons trained at him.

"Now, please identify yourself." Allura commanded, focused on the stranger before them. The figure looked around at the people surrounding him before eventually landing on Pidge. Stuttering, the figure took a jarring step forward, a hand reaching out.

"Stop right there! Do not take another step!" Shiro warned, arm starting to glow in activation as the anxiety was ramped up. Pidge held her bayard out defensively but didn't back away from the figure.

"K-Katie…? I-is that really you?" The figure asked. The question sent chills down everyone's spines as they fully processed what he asked. How did he…?

"Who the hell are you?" Pidge growled, stalking towards him with the intent of electrocuting him until he spilled his darkest secrets.

"Wait, wait, Pidge it's me!" The figure yelled, letting his hood fall off and pool around his neck. Pidge stopped dead in her tracks at the sight and let her bayard slip out of her hand in shock. This had better not be a dream.

"M-Matt?" she said, her voice soft and cracking with disbelief, the tentative hope that she held onto evident in her tone with just that word. It almost hurt to hear it, so strongly was she clinging to that hope. If this wasn't real, she didn't think she would recover.

"Yeah… it's me…" Matt whispered, smiling softly. Without warning, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by a very enthusiastic Green Paladin. The others watched the sibling reunion in shock. They had heard of Pidge's missing family members before, but they had not expected her brother to show up suddenly.

"Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you and Dad! I even broke into the Garrison to try and find info about the Kerberos mission! Those morons were hiding it from _everybody_!" She screamed, hugging her brother tightly, not even bothering to hold back the tears that built up in her eyes. Luckily, Matt was holding her just as tightly.

"Well, when I managed to escape from the Galra, I ended up joining a rebel base for a while before transferring into a different sector where I met this guy who helped me find you all!" He beamed proudly then rolled his eyes at his sister. "And really, Pidge? You broke in?" Chuckling, Pidge only hugged her brother closer. Shiro then cleared his throat, which brought the Holt siblings' attention to the leader again. Shiro smiled widely and offered a hand to his old teammate.

"It's great to have you back." He said softly and Matt smiled fondly back at him, taking the offered hand and standing up, still hugging his sister with one arm. Shiro brought the younger male into a hug, feeling the guilt in his heart well up and diminish at the same time. What he had done in the arena hadn't been in vain. Matt was alive!

"Shiro! I'm so glad you made it out of there!" Matt said happily, hugging his former friend, which seemed to crack the ice for everyone else as they all began greeting him.

"So, uhh, Matt, you said you found us with someone's help? Was it, like, part of the Blade of Marmora?" Hunk asked, curious. Matt shook his head, so now they were all curious. Who else of their allies would both know of them and be able to track their location?

"Einar" Matt replied, a smile on his face.

 _ **BLIP**_

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 **Soo...**

 **Yeah...**

 **I hope you all enjoyed.**

 **Or, y'know, don't hate it enough to kill my self esteem in the comments.**

 **Read, review, and stay true, everyone.**


	2. Monologue

**So I'm back. Sorry its taken so long. I'm lazy and procrastinate a lot.**

 **But thank you to Windrider340 and Wolf of the Demise for the reviews, Windrider340 again for the follow, and Saxor131 for the favorite.**

 **Thank you also for anyone else who read this piece of trash from my tired mind.**

 **So...yeah.**

 **Sentiment aside...**

 **On with the show**

 **I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender**

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"Einar?" Allura asked, confused. The rest of the team were confused, with the only one fine being Matt. They had never heard of an "Einar" before. Matt nodded.

"Yeah, he helped me find you all with some really weird calculations or something. I didn't really understand it, but I'm glad he was right. He helped me find you." He smiled fondly down at his sister and hugged her again.

"Perhaps we should take this conversation into the den? It might be more comfortable to talk in there." Coran then offered, and Matt nodded, both enthusiastic and grateful.

"That would be really great. The beds in the barracks are ok, but not the greatest in the way of comfort, y'know?" He said, smiling sheepishly and the humans nodded in agreement. The beds back at the Garrison had been the same way. They led the way to the den and took a seat, still in slight awe that Matt was even here in the first place.

"Where have you been all this time? Something about a rebel base?" Keith asked, the first to break the silence between them all. Matt nodded.

"Yeah, like I said, I didn't really have anywhere else to go when they broke me out, so I ended up joining them. It's really amazing! They have a pretty good network set up and have sectors all over the galaxy!" Matt said in amazement, and Pidge could practically see the sparkles in his eyes.

"That's truly amazing! We hadn't known there were very many rebels! We thought that it was just us and the Blade of Marmora who were actively fighting against the Empire!" Allura beamed widely and Matt suddenly looked stricken, as if he had never seen Allura before. Matt felt his heart beat a little faster as he took in the girl's appearance before him. She was absolutely beautiful! Putting on what he hoped was his most appealing and charming smiled, he couldn't help but try and flirt with the girl. It had been a while that he had seen a girl that looked even remotely close to human, so he didn't really think he could be blamed for this.

"Well, hello there." He said charmingly. "Matthew Holt, to be formal. Would you be the lovely lady named Allura I was talking to before?" He flirted. Team Voltron suddenly froze, their hearts aching. That tone, that cocky smirk. It reminded them so much of one long gone that it wasn't even funny. Matt's smile suddenly fell as he felt the tension rise to a suffocating level. Had he said something wrong? Even his little sister beside him was tense and he could feel her tremble slightly, her eyes downcast. The rest of the team were in similar states. Shiro had a sort of blank look on his face, Hunk's eyes were filled with tears that had yet to fall, Keith was glaring down as his lap, his hands clenched into fists, Allura just looked shocked and pale, and Coran looked pain-stricken, trying his best not to cry.

"I-I'm sorry. Did I offend you in some way?" Matt asked, now slightly nervous. The first humans he had seen in a while and now he said something stupid. Great.

"N-No, no. you did nothing wrong." Allura reassured, trying to smile reassuringly, but it still looked a little strained.

"You just…reminded us of someone… He isn't…with us anymore…" Shiro said, his voice fading after a while. Beside him, Keith's knuckled blanched white with how hard he was clenching them in his lap. Wincing, Matt nodded. he knew that losing a friend was like, especially now that he was in a rebellion. He had lost a lot of friends on missions and it looked just like how they looked like now.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Matt apologized, but Coran shook his head, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Don't be, my boy. This wasn't your fault. You didn't know." The rest of the team nodded in agreement, but the tense atmosphere didn't dissipate.

"So, uhh, this, um, rebel leader of yours, he said you should come find us?" Hunk asked, trying to diffuse awkward the air between them. Wincing internally, Hunk berated himself mentally. Wow, yeah, this was much harder than he thought. Lance was always better at lightening the mood than he was. The thought of Lance sobered him up again and he felt his heart hurt. Matt nodded, feeling the tension in the room lift a bit.

"Yeah. I used to be placed closer to the main Galra fleet, but then I was transferred to where we're trying to free more planets and sabotage Empire supply lines. With my skills, I can get stuff done a lot faster and easier than the rest of my section and its pretty valuable for when we go off on missions. And Commander Einar is so cool!" Matt crowed, suddenly talking passionately about the rebel force he was part of. Relieved at the topic change, Team Voltron listened with enthusiasm as they had never even realized that there were rebels in the first place other and the Blade of Marmora.

"Who is Commander Einar?" Allura asked politely. The prospect of more allies was enticing, but she would need to know more about this "Commander Einar" and how he worked with others.

"He's amazing and a great tactician! He hasn't lost anyone on a mission yet! He listens to us when we give our opinions! He's such a serious guy though. Kinda wish he would smile more, but he's great anyway. He's an amazing leader!" the man said happily, practically glowing at the mention of his superior. Pidge snorted and rolled her eyes.

"You're such a fanboy." She said, pushing him gently and laughing at the pout on her brother's face.

"I am not! He's just a great leader and I think its perfectly fine for me to admire him!" he defended, huffing and pushing his sister but she only giggled and held on to him.

"This leader of yours sounds very interesting. Do you think that we would be able to meet him?" Allura asked, excited and interested at the description of the leader. Matt looked at her again, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I don't really know. I'd ask to him since we have pretty tight security around base, but I can ask. He did tell to come and fine you all anyway." Matt shrugged.

"That has been something I have been meaning to ask. How did your commander manage to find us?" Coran asked, curious and a little worried. Did they overlook a system in the castle that would lead to others tracking down their location? Matt blinked in confusion for a second but nodded.

"Oh, well, I helped with the technical part of it, but it was mostly recon on our part. Every time we went out on a mission, he would ask about your guys' last know location. I think he had the same idea as you. Teaming up and all. We have the numbers and you guys have the firepower after all." Allura nodded in agreement. Together, with the rebels and the Blade, it would make taking back planets from the Galra Empire much easier.

"Well, if you could possibly get into contact with your commander, we could talk about meeting and forming an alliance between us!" the princess said excitedly. Maybe things would be better now? Matt nodded.

"I left my communicator in my ship. He might not be there since he usually goes on missions too. But if not, I can communicate with his second in command. I think you guys'll like her." Matt grinned and got up. They all got up and went back to the hangar where his ship was parked. Activating a sort of switch on his arm, the door opened, and Matt stepped inside.

"Come on in. It's kind of cramped, but you all can look around a bit if you want." The man said before heading over to his chair and pushing buttons in a seemingly random pattern. The team walked into the cabin and looked around as best as they could. The ship was small, but not as small as it looked on the outside. Pidge looked around with her usual curiosity and poked around at the machinery. It wasn't advanced as the lions, but it was still impressive as she could see that some parts were very obviously mismatched. This very obviously wasn't a fighter ship, but it very fast, probably on par with the Red Lion, only with less maneuverability.

"I have never seen a ship like this." Coran commented, also looking around the ship. Matt looked up from what he was doing and smiled proudly.

"Yeah. I built her myself!" He said, and the rest looked at him, surprised. Chuckling, Matt went back to tinkering with his console.

"Yeah, well, it's not like we're exactly funded or anything. Anything we can find or can get our hands on is…requisitioned for our purposes. We have some pretty great mechanics and can make lots of stuff out of pretty much anything. Our missions aren't all fighting. We have to go on scavenging missions to get supplies." He commented proudly and stood up again.

"It sounds like an RPG." Hunk chuckled softly, and Matt laughed, smiling with stars in his eyes.

"Yes! Finally! Someone who gets that! Do you know how hard it is to make references when no one else gets them?!" Matt groaned, and the humans laughed. They understood that feeling, especially when they would accidentally say something that the Alteans didn't understand.

"Ok, well, I've contacted base and they said that we can have clearance to go, on the condition that you don't bring the castle. Can we all ride in one of the lions?" Matt asked. Allura raised her eyebrow at the condition.

"I think we can all fit inside Black, but why?" Shiro asked and Matt just raised his eyebrow sassily at him.

"Really, Shiro? We're a _secret_ rebel alliance with a _secret_ rebel base. A single lion, we can hide. A big ass castle ship? Yeah, I don't think so." He said, and Pidge burst out laughing. She missed her bother so much when he was gone. Shiro felt his face suddenly burn at the tone in his friend's voice. Yeah. That made sense. Looking down, he shot a small glare at Pidge for laughing at his embarrassment. Well, now he knew where she got her own sass from. The rest of the occupants in the cabin felt secondhand embarrassment for the Black Paladin but didn't say anything in fear of Matt's sharp tongue. Yeah, he was definitely related to Pidge.

"Yeah, you're right. Didn't think of that. Sorry." He said sheepishly, and Matt laughed, clapping the taller man on the shoulder.

"It's fine. Just don't want to cause trouble for them. Shara would have my head if I came back to base with a castle." He chuckled, then turned back to his dash as a light suddenly flashed on. Pressing buttons rapidly, Matt turned and smiled at Team Voltron.

"I just got the green light on bringing you guys to base!" He said proudly, and the rest looked confused. They hadn't seen him pull up any sort of screen for a video message nor a written one. Pidge, being the curious being she was, immediately shoved her brother out of the way to take a look at his dashboard. There was no sign of anything that she could hack into to gather information like she usually would and the only screen she could see was a small one in the middle that was for navigational purposes. Overall, she was impressed, and she expressed as much.

"I get it! So, if the Galra manage to capture the ship, they won't be able to pull any info from this!" she said, appreciating the tech for what it was. Matt nodded, smiling proudly.

"Yupp! One of our tech specialists came up with that idea, so all our ships have this." Coran looked intrigued.

"So how do you send messages?" he asked and once again, Matt seemed to light up at the question.

"So glad you asked!" He said, ushering the older male to the dash and showing him how it was set up. "Basically, how we communicate is all through code. Similar to Morse code back on Earth, it works through a series of sounds and flashes of light intertwined. It's a little bit more complex than that, but that's the gist of it. That way, if the Empire _does_ manage to intercept our communications, they won't be able to decode anything since we use a keyphrase for everything." Coran nodded, impressed at the ingenuity of the rebels.

"So, we get to visit a rebel base? Awesome!" Hunk cheered. The rest of the team were just as excited at the thought. Matt laughed and nodded.

"Yeah. I got the coordinates, so we can head there now if you want." He offered, and the team immediately nodded.

"Yes. I believe that the Black Lion will suffice in transporting us all, if Shiro has no objections, of course?" She looked at the man. Shiro smiled and nodded at the Princess before turning to the rest of the team.

"Alright guys, regular clothes and armor. Be in the Black Lion's hangar in five!" The others nodded before heading out of the ship and going quickly to their rooms to prepare. This would probably be a long mission, so they needed to be ready.

"I need to get Black prepared. Matt, do you wanna come with me? You can get your first look at the head of Voltron." Shiro offered the smaller man, to which the rebel nodded, as excited as a child on Christmas. Chuckling, Shiro led the way to the Black Lion's hangar with Matt asking questions the whole way. This left Coran and Allura standing in the hangar with Allura feeling slightly left out.

"You should go get ready, Princess. And you left your bayard in the Blue Lion." He said softly and Allura winced. A week after the Blue Lion had returned, they had faced an attack by a robeast that four lions alone couldn't fight against. In a moment of madness, Allura felt some sort of urge overwhelm her, and she ran to the Blue Lion's hangar and stared up at the huge mechanical cat. In that moment, she snapped out of her daze and was surprised to find the barrier down and the head lowered so she could climb inside. The flight and battle afterwards were exhilarating and terrifying, and the feeling of coming together left her feeling utterly breathless. Just for a moment, she forgot. They all forgot. The joy and adrenaline from forming Voltron and beating the robeast outweighed everything.

 _"Great job out there, Lance!"_ Shiro called out proudly.

The happy moment halted abruptly.

Whatever joy they had now turned into a heavy pit of sorrow in their guts.

The very phrase and the name left suspended in the air now served to wrap around their necks and choke them with memories and regrets.

It hurt then. It hurt now. But there was no one else. They _needed_ Voltron and the Blue Lion had accepted her. So, she would pilot the Blue Lion, but she would not be a Paladin. The Blue Paladin was lost, and she would never do him justice by taking over. Still, that didn't make the process any less heartbreaking…

"Princess?" Coran's voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up to see the concerned look on her advisor's face.

"Sorry Coran. I just…I…" Coran nodded in understanding before pulling her close and hugging her. They had all been healing. Slowly, but they were healing none the less. They needed to move past it and they were doing their best.

"You know that he would be proud of you, of all of you, for handling this as well as you have." Coran murmured softly and rubbed her back soothingly. Allura nodded and smiled softly, just thinking about the goofy smile that the Cuban boy would make while happy.

"Are you going to be coming with us?" She asked, pulling away and wiping away any stray tears, but the orange-haired man shook his head.

"I'll be staying behind with the castle, Princess. If you need me, I'll be parked on a nearby planet or moon." Coran said, smiling and snapping back to his normally cheerful self. "I'll defend the fort, so to speak!" he said, saluting and making Allura giggle.

"Alright. I'll get ready then." She smiled and went off to the Blue Lion's hangar. Entering the Lion, Allura felt a shiver run down her spine. No matter how much she bonded with Blue, she couldn't help but feel like there was a ghost looking over her shoulder. Snatching the bayard, she quickly stepped out and breathed a sigh of relief. Looking down at her bayard, she winced slightly. They had found the bayard on the floor next to the armor when the Lion had returned, and it had sent a chill down their spines. The Paladin armor was broken and bloody, and it had nearly sent them all into hysterics. That had been the nail in the coffin, so to speak, that solidified Lance's death in their eyes. If he were alive, he would have come back. But he hadn't. And now all that was left was his bayard, his armor, and what was left in his room. With that, they took their time to grieve.

Wincing at the memory, Allura glanced down at herself. While the Blue Paladin's armor had been fixed and cleaned, it didn't sit well with her to wear it. Instead, she chose to wear her own armor, which was a light pink in color instead of one of the other five colors of Voltron. On Altea, pink had been worn as a sign of respect for those that had fallen. In her mind, she would wear this color for the fallen Paladins of old, for her planet of Altea, for her father, and for Lance. With that in mind, she quickly grabbed the bayard she had left and walked out of Blue, gently patting her sides before returning to the Black Lion's hangar. There, she found the rest of the team standing and talking with each other.

"Is everyone ready to go?" She asked as they all turned at her approach. Nodding, minus Matt, they boarded the Black Lion and prepared to take off. Matt took off first, zooming out of the hangar with Black following close behind.

"Imputing the coordinates now." Shiro announced, tapping a few keys on his dash before feeling the Black Lion speeding up and chasing after the smaller ship.

"I'll be following from a distance before splitting up. Stay safe and good luck, Paladins, Princess." Coran said over the comms and they all smiled.

"Thank you, Coran. We will." Allura replied softly, smiling before the cockpit was then filled with a tense sort of silence.

"So, what do you think is gonna happen there?" Hunk asked, nervous and feeling his stomach acting up like usual. He only stayed strong because he really doubted that either Black or Shiro would really appreciate him puking inside there. Not to mention the others who were in the small space with them. The smell would _definitely_ not be appreciated. Seeing that it would probably be a good idea to distract the bigger teen, Shiro shrugged.

"I don't know, but I don't think it would be much different from the Blade of Marmora. They are a military rebellion after all, so they're going to be organized." Allura nodded in agreement.

"He's right, so it would be best for you all to be on your best behavior. From what Matt said, they are quite a large organization and they would be a very valuable asset in the direct war with the Galra Empire. Not to mention that they already have done quite a bit without us, so our combined forces, along with the Voltron Alliance should make it much easier in liberating planets." She reasoned.

"Oh! I wonder what kind of tech they have! I should have asked Matt before we took off!" Pidge gasped, sitting in her seat and fantasizing about what all she could learn from the rebel fleet and all the tech they might possibly let her get her hands on. Maybe she could get a pass from Matt…?

"All that matters is getting there and seeing once and for all who this 'Commander Einar' is. I already don't like the sound of him." Keith huffed, to which the rest of the team just internally rolled their eyes at. Keith was never the trusting sort and he was always the first to be suspicious. Not to say that it didn't come in handy at times, but he really did need to learn how to reign it in at other times. Yet despite Keith's apprehension, they all had worries and curiosity over the person Matt had described as 'Commander Einar'.

BLIP

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 **Again, thank you all again for reading any of this.**

 **This fic was brought to you by sleep deprivation and many many songs. Mainly Fall Out Boy.**

 **Sadly, i'm not sponsored by them.**

 **So, I'd love to hear what you all think of this.**

 **As always, Read, review, and stay true.**


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